Card feeder for rotary stencil



Aug. '3, 1951 CARD FEEDER FOR ROTARY STENCIL EG I KICATORS Filed March 2, 1949 2 Sheets-Sheet J.

2 Sheets-Sheet 2 I Q a3 T i /NVENTOR.

Aug. 7, 1951 A. E. GOODWIN CARD FEEDER FOR ROTARY STENCIL DUPLICATORS Filed March 2, 1949 Patented Aug. 7, 1951 OFFICE CARD FEEDER FOR ROTARY STENCIL DUPLICATORS' Alfred E. Goodwin, Shawnee, Okla.

Application March 2, 1949, Serial No. 79,270

This inventionrelates to an improved card feeding mechanism to be used in connection with what is commonly known as a rotary stencil duplicator.

The object of my inventionis to provide a card feeder of simple, durable, and-inexpensive construction, capable of being adjusted to accommodate cards of various thicknesses and textures whereby the cards may be more accurately and positively fed to the inking drum regardless of their thickness and as to whether or not the cards are curved or straight.

A further object of my invention is to provide in a stencil duplicator employing a rotary inking drum and a synchronized card feeder, improved 4 Claims. (Cl. 101-118) means for causing the feeder to become inoperative at such times as desired without stopping the rotation of the inking drum to permit distributing of the ink on the drum, or for any other reason.

A further object of my invention is to provide in that type of card feeder adapted to feed cards from the bottom of a stack of cards, improved means for engaging the end of the card to prevent skinning or splitting off the corners of said ends.

A further object of my invention is to provide in a rotary stencil duplicator employing a rotary inking drum and a synchronized card feeder improved means for increasing or decreasing the marginal edge of the printed matter at the top edge of the card.

My invention consists in the construction, arrangement and combination of the various parts of the device whereby the objects contemplated and attained as hereinafter more fully set forth, pointed out in my claims and illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which:

Fig. 1 is a side elevation of a stencil duplicator involving my improved card feeder, part of the front side being broken away.

Fig. 2 is a top view of Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is an enlarged sectional view taken on the line 33 of Fig. 2.

Fig. 4 is a sectional view taken on the line 44 of Fig. 3.

Fig. 5 is a sectional view taken on the line 5-5 of Fig. 3.

Fig. 6 is a perspective view of the carriage and the card feeder.

Fig. 7 is a perspective view of a modified form of said card feeder, to be used with my improved card feeding mechanism.

Fig. 8 is an enlarged sectional view taken on the line 88 of Fig. 5.

Fig. 9 is an enlarged sectional view taken on the line 9--9 of Fig. 5.

In the drawings I have used the numeral ill to indicate the casing of a rotary stencil duplicator employing my improved card feeder. Said casing comprises a drum supporting section I2 and a card supporting section I I; rotatably mounted in the drum section I2 is a shaft I3 having its central portion supporting an inking drum I4 of ordinary construction. Fixed to one end of the shaft I3 is a crank I5, by means of which the shaft and drum are rotated, and the opposite end of the shaft is provided with an arm I6 having a slot I1. Supported transversely in the section II is a shaft I8 adapted to support at each end one end of a bar I9, the opposite end of each bar I 9 being supported by a spring 2I adjustably supported from its upper end by a thumb nut 22; the central portion of each bar I9 is provided with a recess 23 for-receiving the corresponding end of the shaft 24 supporting a pressure roller 26 adapted to engage the under surface of a card being fed to the drum I4. Fixed to the under surface of the forward end of the top member 21 of the section II is an angle bar 28. A bar 29 is also secured to the member 21 a slight distance ahead of the bar 28 to provide a groove 3| for receiving the top edge of a bar 32. having its lower edge resting on the bars I9 as clearly illus trated in solid lines Fig. 3. A lever 33 is secured to one end of the bar 32 by means of which said bar 32 may be rocked to its dotted line position to force the spring supported ends of the bars I9 downwardly to cause the roller 26 to disengage the under surface of the drum I4. A spring 34 secured to the central portion of the [bar 28 provides means for yieldably holding the bar 32 in either. of said positions of movement.

The top member 21 of the section I I is provided with a central longitudinal slot 36 and an opening 31. Said top is also provided with plates 38 having their inner edges spaced from and parallel with said slot, the outer edges of the plates 38 being folded inwardly to provide card supports 39. Guide rails 4| are adjustably mounted on the top 21 to form side members of the card hopper 42. Thumb screws 43 provide means for adjustably mounting the rails 4| to the top 21 to be moved toward and from each other to accommodate cards of various widths.

Supported above the top 21 near the drum I4- I have provided a transversely arranged bar 44 adjustably supported at each end by downwardly projecting screw threaded studs 46 mounted in openings 41 in the top 21 and secured in position by nuts 48. The central portion of the bar 44 is provided with an adjustable gate bar 49 having its lower end curved as clearly shown in Fig. 4 and terminating slightly above the top plate 21. Supported by the delivery end of the plate 2? and beneath the gate bar 49 and in alignment with the slot 31, I have provided a riser 5| having its upper surface beveled downwardly and inwardly and terminating inwardly of the bar 49. The upper surface of said riser is above the top sur faces of the plates 39 and provides means for supporting the central portion of the inner ends of the stack of cards 52 so that theunder surface of the lower cards will 'be concaved longitudinally of the slot 31. justable by means of the studs 46 and .the nuts 48 so that a space 53 is provided of a height slightly greater than the thickness of the card to be delivered to the inking drum, thus permitting only thelower card of the. stack to be delivered to inking drum when said card is moved forwardly-in a manner hereinafter set forth.

Supportedon the upper face of the top plate 2'! nearits outer end is a pair of standards 54 spaced apart and provided with a cross bar 56 having an outwardly extending-portion 51.. Sup,- ported on the inner face of the cross bar is a vertical guide 58. Slidably mounted in the outer end-of slot 36 and between the standards 5.4 I have provided a carriage .59 comprising a-substantially rectangular body s! having alatterly extending bar 62 at each end. The inner bar 92 is provided with upper and lower plates 63 while the outer bar 62 isprovided with an .upper plate 64 and a lower plate 65 to form guides for the :carriage. The inner end of the upper face of the body BI is beveled downwardly and inwardlyatfifi and is provided with a transverse recess 61. Pivotally securedto the bodytl .is a card feeder 68 comprising a pair of parallel plates 69 having a slightly curved top portion H. The plates .69 are secured to the body by a, pin 12 passed through the openings T3'and with the inner edge of the top portion H extending forwardly of the outer edge of the recess 61 as shown in Figs. 3 and 8. The body 5! is provided with set screws 16 and -11 which provides means for adjusting the angle of the top H relative to vthetop of the body 6| for the purpose hereinafter made clear. The carriage 59 is adapted to be .slidably supported in the slot 36 ,with the plates 63 and 54 above the member 21 and'the lower plate 63 and the plate 65 below: the member '27. The carriage 59 is reciprocated by means of a transverse rod 18 having one end secured ,to abracket l9 fixed to the plate 65, the other end of said rod extending through a slot .8! :in the side of the section I l. A link 82 operatively connects the outer end of the rod 18 with the arm [5 by means 'of a pivot '83 adjustably mounted in the slot H. The rod 18 is mounted in a hole 84 formed in the outer end of said link 82. Thus it will beseen that if the crank 15, the shaft l3 and drum l4 are rotated the arm l6 will also be rotated causing the carriage-59to be oscillatedbeneath the outer end of thestack of cards. The cards are placed between the rails 4| -,with their outer'ends against the inner faces of the standards and their inner ends againstthe gate bar 49 with the forward end of the central portion of the stack resting on the riser 5l-ya'nd the outer end of the-central portion of the stack resting on the inner endof the top of the body fiLasshown .in Figure 31 when thecarriage is; at its outer position of movement. A weight in the The gate bar 49 is adform of a rod 88 provides means for holding the cards in firm contact with. the riser and the body 6 I, the weight having at each end a notch 89, one for receiving the gate bar 49 and the other the guide 58. When the carriage is at its outer position of movement the feeder plate H is positioned outwardly from the end of the lower card 99. As the carriage is moved forwardly theinner end of thefeeder plate will engage the endof the card and move it inwardly through the space 53 to the inking drum. By curving the upper surfaces of the members 5| and ll and forming said parts of narrow width with the parts 5! and GI above the plate 21, I have provided a card feeder capsable of positively engaging and feeding a single card through the space 53 each time the carriage is operated even if the card is curved upwardly or downwardly from a longitudinal center line. The weight 88 is placed directly over the risers 5| and BI so that proper contact may be made by the feeder plate With the end of. the card being fed. The front .edgeof the plate 'Il may be adjusted by the screws 16 and -11 so that thefront edge of said plate will engage the end of the card near or slightly above its center as illustrated in Fig. 8. The recess 67 serves :to permit the lower edge of the card to bend downwardly as illustrated in Fig. 8. The adjustment of the screws l6 and 11 serve toalso accommodate cards of various thickness. .The space 53 may be varied by adjusting the studs 46 by the nuts .48. r r

In Fig. 7 I have illustrated a slightly modified form of. carriage and feeden'comprising abody portion 9|, a bottom plate 92 and a top bar '93. Said top'bar is bulged upwardly at 94 to support the feeder plate 95. The member 94- is provided with a recess 96 ahead of the feed bar. This modified feeder may be substituted forthe'preferred form if so desired.

It is sometimes desired to operate the drum l4 without operating'thefeeder. In order "to do so I have provided the following mechanism: Mounted on the plate 21 is adepending bracket 91 to which is pivotally supported a plate 98 having an upwardly extending prong 99. Said plate is also provided with a forwardly extending link I99 having its forward endin the form of a hook l0l mounted in an opening I02-in the bar 32. The link is of such a length that when the bar 32 is in its normal operating position the plate '98 will be in its lower'position. *At such times as when the bar is in'its inoperative or dotted position, as illustrated in Fig. '3, the prong 99 will project into the opening'3'l and .engage the under side of the cards and elevate the outer end of the stack above the feeder plate ll so that the plate'may oscillate without engagin he ends of the cards, thus providing simple means for causing he feeder tobecomeinoperative at such times as it is .desiredto rotate the drum without feeding cards, as is necessary when inking, changing stencil, etc.

The slotted crank arm l6 provides means whereby the distance between the. .topand .bottom ends of the card and the printed matter thereonmay be varied by simply adjusting the link 82 relative to the said crank arm. Increasing the length of the stroke of the feeder .platedelays the movement of the card relative to the movement of the drum [4 and thus .dcreasing the margin at the top of the card. Decreasing thelength of the crank willcause the .feeder plate to engage the card at anearlier period and increase marginal distance between the top edge of the card.

Thus it will be seen that I have provided an improved card feeding mechanism for rotary stencil duplioators of simple, durable and inexpensive construction wherein cards of various textures and thicknesses may be positively fed to the inking drum by adjusting the set screws 15 and 11, and wherein the card may be more positively engaged with the end of the card by providing the recess 61 permitting any chips or foreign matter to be deposited in said recess, thereby keeping the forward edge or the feeder plate clean. The weight bar 88 provides means for positively maintaining pressure on the cards directly over the risers so that the forward end of the card is always in alignment with the delivery slot, with the opposite end in positive engagement with the feeder plate. By making the risers narrow and with curved upper surfaces and the lower end of the gate bar curved longitudinally, curved cards may be positively fed to the inking drum. The pivoted plate 98 and the link ltd operatively connected to the lever controlled device 32 provides means for causing the card feeding mechanism to become inoperative while the adjustable connection between the link 82 and the crank arm I6 provides simple means for varying the top margin.

I claim:

1. The combination, in a rotary stencil duplicator, of a rotatably mounted inking drum, a feed roller yieldably supported in contact with said drum, lever operated mechanism for moving said roller out of engagement with said drum, reciprocating means actuated by and synchronized with the rotation of said drum for feeding cards successively from the bottom of a stack of cards to said roller and drum, means for lifting said stack of cards out of the path of movement of said card feeder, and means actuated by the operation of said lever for actuating said card lift.

2. The combination, in a rotary stencil duplicator, of a rotatably mounted inking drum, a feed roller in yieldable contact with said drum, a lever operated mechanism for moving said roller out of engagement with said drum, reciprocating means actuated by and synchronized with the rotation of said drum, for feeding cards successively from the bottom of a stack of cards to said roller and drum, means for lifting said stack of cards out of the path of movement of said card feeder, comprising a supporting bracket, beneath the stack of cards, a plate having one end pivoted to said bracket with its free end to swing upwardly to engage the under surface of said stack, to lift the same as the plate is oscillated, and a link operatively connecting said lever operated mechanism to said plate, whereby the stack of cards will be lifted out of operative relation with said card feeder, simultaneously with the actuation of said lever operated mechanism.

3. The combination, in a rotary stencil duplicator, of a casing, an inking drum rotatably mounted therein, a pressure roller in yieldable engagement with said drum, said casing including a card supporting plate, upright rails spaced apart to form a card receiving hopper, a narrow and elongated riser carried by said plate near the inner end of said hopper having its top surface curved and adapted to support the inner end of a stack of cards, a bar supported transversely over said riser, a gate bar carried by said transverse bar having its lower end termi nating over said riser a slight distance and curved upwardly and outwardly to form a card check, means adjustably supporting said transverse bar to vary the space between its lower end and said riser, a pair of upright standards spaced apart near the outer end of said rails to form an abutment for the stack of cards, a transverse bar carried by said standards, having an upright guide bar, a carriage mounted to reciprocate beneath said guide bar having its upper surface above said plate and adapted to support the outer end of a stack of cards, a feeder plate supported by said carriage, means for adjusting the height of said feeder plate relative to said carriage, a weight rod movably supported on said guide and said gate bar to maintain the central portion of the stack of cards firmly on said riser and carriage, and means for reciprocating said carriage synchronously with the movement of said drum for delivering a card from said stack of cards to said pressure roller and inking drum.

4. The combination, in a rotary stencil duplicator, of a casing, an inking drum rotatably mounted therein, a pressure roller in yieldable engagement with said drum, said casing including a card supporting plate having spaced upright rails to form a card hopper, a narrow and elongated riser supported by said plate near the inner end of said hopper adapted to support the inner end of a stack of cards, an upright gate bar having its lower end curved upwardly and outwardly and terminating slightly above said riser to form a card check, means for adjustably mounting said gate bar to vary the space between its lower end and said riser, upright standards to form an abutment for the outer end of a stack of cards, an upright guide bar spaced outwardly from the outer end of said stack of cards, a carriage mounted to reciprocate beneath the outer end of the stack of cards having its upper surface above said card supporting plate and in longitudinal alignment with said riser, said carriage having in its upper surface a transverse recess, a feeder plate carried by said carriage having its inner edge overhanging said recess, a weight rod slidably mounted on said guide bar and gate bar, to maintain the central portion of the ends of said cards in firm contact with said riser and carriage, and means for reciproeating said carriage synchronously with the movement with said drum for delivering a card from said stacker cards to said pressure roller and inking drum.

ALFRED E. GOODWIN.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 999,009 Cleal et a1 July 25, 1911 "1,058,868 Kepple et a1 Apr. 15, 1913 1,359,191 Packard Nov. 16, 1920 1,740,195 Morrison Dec. 17, 1929 1,826,149 Mueller Oct. 6, 1931 2,120,247 Funk et a1. June 14, 1938 2,158,505 Horgan May 16, 1939 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 518,002 Germany -l Feb. 12, 1931 

